


Not A Regency Romance

by Kris



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: M/M, Marriage of Convenience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-24
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-14 11:14:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2189574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kris/pseuds/Kris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Knifehead, Yancy and Raleigh are discharged for insubordination. With Raleigh in bad health and cut off from ppdc medical there's nothing Yancy wouldn't do to fix things, including marry Herc Hansen</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not A Regency Romance

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to silentflux for the stupid quick review and also putting up with me and thanks to sonora and kuro49 for being super nice and helpful.
> 
> FYI: Scott Hansen is not a nice man in this fic, because it fit with my story line. There is mention of underage, abuse and sex and pregnancy, nothing graphic but it's there.

_**Sydney, Australia - November 23, 2018** _

_Yancy's mouth around Herc's dick is something Herc is glad he didn't pass up even if twenty minutes, and three tequila shots ago, fucking the younger ranger had actually seemed like a very bad idea._

_"What the actual fuck?" Herc grins up at Scott from where he's sitting with his legs spread at the end of his hotel bed on the repentantly ugly floral bedspread and keeps a hand fisted in Yancy's thick blonde hair to keep the kid on task. Taking the kid back to the room he shared with Scott, well, that he knew was a stroke of brilliance. It's hot when he and his brother share and he'd already warned Yancy it could happen if he was into it, Yancy was already fully on board with the idea._

_"He's got a sweet mouth, you want a piece?" Scott chuckles and runs a hand over Yancy's bare back, down the length of spine to grab a handful of firm ass, squeezing and massaging. Yancy grinds back into the hand and sucks Herc down to the root, swallows and makes Herc curse._

_"I really, really do but this might get a little awkward, because Raleigh's on his way up right now, he's just looking for Yancy here to say goodnight." Scott smirks. Herc groans at the way that makes Yancy buck and shake, his throat working around Herc’s cock. He holds him down for one more second before letting him up for air._

_"You have got to be fucking kidding." Yancy's voice is hoarse and fucked out and Herc's dick twitches at the sound._

_"Boy's allowed to make his own choices," Scott still hasn't let go of the handful of ass he's holding and Yancy turns and lays a fist across his jaw for it. Scott sprawls to the floor in an inelegant pile._

_Yancy spits at him, “the kid just turned 17, you're not going anywhere near him." There's clothes flying everywhere with Yancy in a mad rush to get dressed and Herc is aggravated enough that he's contemplating adding to the bruise forming over Scott's cheekbone as the best blowjob he's ever had is walking out the door. Yancy leans over and plants a kiss on Herc's mouth that tasted like precome and a dirty promise._

_"Some other time, sorry your brother is such an ass," and then he's gone. Scott stares at the door forlorn and sighs._

_"Shame," he offers out loud. "Bet he'd look fantastic with Raleigh hanging off his cock." They never do that, Herc and Scott, but only because Herc isn't interested in anything more than sharing._

_"You're a fucking cunt," is what Herc replies with. He goes to the bathroom to finish off while Scott cackles in the other room._

***

**Anchorage, Alaska - March 5, 2020**

Yancy will tell, anyone who asks, that he has no idea how he survived being thrown out of Gipsy Danger’s conn-pod by Knifehead. With only a few bruises he’s a walking miracle. And he honestly doesn't know how. What he does know is that the answers he’s giving to the talking heads aren’t good enough. He can tell by the pinched expression on Marshal Pentecost’s face and the shark like smile the American PPDC Representative is wearing when he looks directly at Yancy as he speaks.  
“It is fair to say, Ranger Becket, that you and your brother will not be in a position to pilot the new Mark V being rolled out in Australia. That Jaeger has already been assigned. With the destruction of Gipsy Danger there is no longer a place for you and your brother as pilots.”

“I understand that Sir,” Yancy says and he chooses his words very carefully. “However, both Raleigh and I have skills that can be applied to J-Tech and K-Science - “ Representative Taylor, who is miles inland of any coast and has probably never had to make a decision harder than white or whole wheat continues on as though Yancy hadn't even opened his mouth. 

“You willfully disobeyed a direct order by your superiors and unfortunately, with the way the war against the Kaiju is developing, there is no room for disobedience on any scales but especially not in a multi million dollar Jaeger.”

“Now just wait a minute!” Pentecost says but Taylor steamrolls over him as well.

“It is the decision of the Pan-Pacific Defence Corps that, on review of the footage and audio recordings from the conn-pod, former Rangers Yancy and Raleigh Becket are hereby dishonorably discharged from service. You will be escorted from the Shatterdome directly. In recognition of your past service the PPDC will arrange to move Raleigh to a civilian hospital.”

An MP is holding Yancy’s arm, firm but gentle grip, Yancy doesn't swing his fist but it's a near thing. There's some yelling between the Marshal and the United Nations representatives but all Yancy can hear is a dull roar. All he can think is that Raleigh killed a kaiju, piloted Gipsy for three hours to shore by himself, he hasn’t even woken up yet and now they have _nowhere to go_.

***

The civilian hospital in Anchorage is a fucking joke. The hospital administrators have set Raleigh up in the coma ward and they give Yancy a bill, the first of many he's told, and it’s so astronomically out of the price range of their meager savings accounts that Yancy doesn’t even know how many jobs he’s going to have to work to pay it off. It's also a stark reality of just how much information hasn’t made it out of the Shatterdome because these ‘Specialists’ have no idea what to make of the neuro-imaging because they have no understanding of drift technology. 

He’s in the hallway slumped over in a supremely uncomfortable plastic chair staring blindly at the glass wall to the room Raleigh is sharing with four other coma patients, it feels like he hasn’t left this place in months but it’s only been a week, when Pentecost blocks his view.

“Ranger,” Yancy spares a half glance up at the imposing man in his dress blues before looking away down the ugly shit green painted hallway. The nurse on duty clashes violently against the walls with her red hair and maroon scrubs, she’s still casting dirty looks Yancy's way. She's been pissed for almost two hours since he knocked a cold cup of coffee over the floor. He'd cleaned the fucking mess up, it’s now the cleanest spot in the goddamn room. A whitish spot on dingy beige tile. Directing his anger into the floor is the only thing keeping him from throwing Pentecost on his ass and probably getting arrested for his troubles. 

“Not a Ranger any more Marshall, don’t expect me to stand on ceremony for you.” Wow, abandonment issues, welcome to the party, Yancy thinks. Pentecost sits down in the chair next to him, hands clasped loosely between his knees. The lights reflect on Pentecost's shined shoes. 

“I’ve tried everything in my power to change their minds,” he says. “But the answer is still no. They’re using you boys as an example of why funding should be moved away from the Shatterdomes and the Jaeger program and funneled instead into building a coastal wall.”

Yancy can’t help the snort of derision. “No wall is going to stop these things from coming.”

“You’re right at that,” Pentecost says. “I’ve got nothing that can help you. Not personally. They’re shutting down the Icebox and most of the staff is being transferred to Sydney.”

“Great,” Yancy mutters, he pushes up to his feet, drags a hand through his hair. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with this information?” he demands. “Gipsy’s been shipped to Oblivion Bay, Raleigh is in a fucking coma ward in a hospital that has no idea how to take care of him and we’re done for. Even after he gets out of here, if he ever gets out of here, we’re going to be scraping the bottom of the barrel for any jobs we can get to pay for the fucking bills. Whatever it is you want to say to me, say it and get the hell out of here because I can’t help you anymore Marshal. I can’t help anyone.”

“No, Mr. Becket, but I have someone who can help you.” Pentecost digs into pocket and holds out a folded sheaf of paper in one hand, a gold ring in the upturned palm of the other.

“What’s this?” Not literally, but the items being presented don't make sense. 

“A ring, Mr Becket. I’ve had Mr. Choi working around the clock on applications and immigration approvals. Take the ring and you’ll be back in the PPDC family no matter what Representative Taylor wants.”

“Whose ring is it?” Yancy asks cautiously. There are several terrible scenarios running through his head. Most of them include the Gage twins and their terrible sense of humour, timing and tact. But that didn't explain the immigration. 

“Hercules Hansen’s.” Well fuck. 

***

_**Manila, Philippines - December 16, 2019** _

_It's a three Jaeger drop in Manila that sees them in the same place next. Raleigh is a big muscled thing looking for a party and doesn't hold Scott's attention for more than a second. Kid doesn't even look surprised that he's no longer to Scott's tastes._

_Herc is in a mood when Yancy drops down next to him on a low, overstuffed leather couch in the party room of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Best half blowjob ever or not he doesn’t really feel like company. Yancy just drinks with him and laughs with him while they watch the younger Becket brother, try to pick up. Everyone wants to celebrate, toast to the victors. All Herc wants to do is collapse into a bed somewhere quiet instead of being on a couch in this busy hotel room. Keep his brother out of trouble._

_"Come on, cheer up!” Scott is wasted on more than just alcohol and they’ve only been out of the conn-pod for an hour. He’s also extremely loud as he shouts into his and Yancy’s ear. “We’re fucking rock stars!” Herc groans and shoves his brother out of the way._

_Somewhere in the room, Shen and Po, Horizon’s pilots, are cheering on a topless blonde woman dancing on a table and Yancy reaches out easily catching Raleigh’s collar as his brother tries to head their way._

_“Scott! Scott! The girls at the bar are looking for you!” Herc says and he’s relieved when Scott is completely distracted by the idea. He cheers loudly, again in their ears, and heads away wobbling in the direction of the temporary bar. Herc feels a mixture of worry and fondness. Probably the same expression on his face as on Yancy’s while he grins down at Raleigh who looks like he’s now sound asleep on the couch between them. “He can get a bit crazy,” Hercules says about his brother._

_Later, Herc helps Yancy pour a still unconscious Raleigh into his bed in their double room and when he invites Yancy up to his own room the younger man follows him._

_Later, Herc is fucking into Yancy’s mouth with slow thrust and Yancy's making delicious little sounds that send shivers through Herc when Scott stumbles in with a loud 'wooo', he even smacks Yancy on the ass and then falls asleep onto Herc's bed next face first. Yancy winks at him with his swollen lips and a quirky smile. Yancy had warned him ahead of time he was done if Scott showed and Herc will concede you don't get much more done than having your brother sleeping on your hip while you're getting a blowjob._

_“Looks like we’re destined to get interrupted by that asshole,” Yancy says and Herc gets another lingering kiss on the lips before Yancy heads out._

***

Yancy takes the night to think over the offer. The pros outweigh the cons. Marrying Hercules Hansen is probably not the worst thing he could do with his life and he acknowledges this. They have had chemistry in the past. The man is handsome, and maybe they can try for an actual relationship instead of half finished blowjobs or this marriage of convenience that Pentecost seems to be offering. Yancy can say that he is, at the very least, interested. More importantly, Raleigh would be back in the care of his PPDC doctors again, with their knowledge of drift sciences.

A major con for the whole thing is that Raleigh hasn’t woken up yet, and they had agreed a long time ago when they had signed with the PPDC that they would do their duty to protect their home, and stop anyone else from dying from a Kaiju attack the way Jazmine and their father had. It feels wrong to make this decision without his brother’s input. Not that they’ll be able to help anyone as disgraced Jaeger pilots.

It’s not much of a choice in the end for Yancy. He’s left wondering as he and Raleigh get loaded into the medical transport while a PPDC official deals with the hospital administrator, what exactly is in this for Hercules Hansen?

***

The wedding is a small affair in Stacker Pentecost’s new office. Herc is imposing in his dress blues and Yancy’s wearing a suit that was really Raleigh’s from some Vanity Fair magazine article back in the day that they let him keep, it fits well enough but he has to will himself still instead of twitching around like a school boy, he hadn’t fit into his own suit but then, he’s lost some weight in the last few weeks.

The Marshal presides, Tendo and one the scientists, Geiszler, stand as witnesses. Raleigh hasn’t woken up yet and Herc’s son Charles is sitting in the back of the room lanky and sullen in the way only teenagers can be. They say ‘I do’ without a fuss and it’s done. Tendo and Geiszler sign the paperwork and Yancy’s new husband’s hand is dry and cool in his own.

“It’s gonna be fine,” Herc says. “Nothing to it.”

Outside the Sydney Shatterdome one of the area’s infamous post-Scissure dust storms howls and batters against the Marshal’s office window.

***

The Shatterdome doctors are at a loss as to why Raliegh is still unconscious but they let Yancy sit with him at any hour of the day or night and after the first few days of quiet with the monitors steady beeping loud in the still room, Yancy brings the Harry Potter books to read out loud. Raleigh had been reading them at one point when they were in the academy but they had been left behind when they were deployed to the Icebox. That had been worthy of a week long sulk until they had been replaced and then they had never had any downtime to read them. He starts at the beginning.

Sometimes he sees the Marshal's adopted daughter, Mako, lurking around the medbay doors and sometimes his new step-son (his step-son, for fuck sake) sits beside him and stares at him with his eyes that are exactly like his father’s but full of contempt and aggravation. Yancy hasn't asked why he sits there mostly because after Tendo had filled him in on the long deceased Mrs. Hansen, Yancy figures it's the least he deserves. 

***

“I know this isn’t something you really wanted,” Herc says after the paperwork is finished. Yancy Hansen and his dependent brother Raleigh are now official residents of the Sydney Shatterdome and welcome to any part of the base that a family security pass can access. Yancy has never let himself imagine having a family outside of his brother after Jaz became a Kaiju casualty. Rals was the only thing he had needed and realistically, until they had been discharged, the likelihood had been extremely high that they’d go out together.

“I’m sorry,” Yancy says finally after the silence has lingered too long and uncomfortable between them. “I’m sorry that you got dragged into this mess. I never - “ and Herc smiles at him encouragingly when he trails off. “I don’t know why you’re doing this for us.” 

“I’m doing this for me too, you’re not the only person the UN is trying to shaft mate.” Herc says after a few minutes. “They can’t find anyone drift compatible with Chuck at the academy and if anything, he’s only being kept on because he’s mine. He graduates in a few weeks and then he’ll be here full time.”

“He’s a fucking menace,” Herc sighs. “And that’s my fault, for not being there when he needed me the most after Scissure but the point I’m trying to make is that the Academy funders aren’t going to keep putting time, training and money into the kid when they can put that effort into someone who _can_ be drift compatible. If something happens to me he’s going to be out on his ass, just like you and your brother were. So this is me being selfish, Yancy. I married you because we get along, I think,” Yancy huffs out a little laugh at Herc’s sly smile. “And to help you and your brother, but partly I married you so that Chuck isn’t going to be left without someone in his corner.” 

“Well, I can’t promise my name will carry any weight behind it, but I’ll be there.” Herc grins at him.

“You think we can make this work, for more than just using each other?” the older man asks, his hand on Yancy’s knee. “We can be friends, maybe more?”

“I’d like to try,” Yancy says. Herc kisses him then, a light brush of lips across lips that has Yancy reaching up to tangle his hands in Herc’s short hair and pull him back down. They trade kisses back and forth on the edge of the bed and maybe it’s the shared memories or just the overall tension from the entire situation that they have found themselves in but Yancy is hard in his pants and Herc’s hands are wrapped around Yancy’s biceps. Yancy lets the older man, his husband, guide him to the bed on his back. They consummate their marriage with Yancy’s hands over his head, held down by Herc’s hands on his wrists, both of them still clothed, pants hastily pushed down to their knees and cocks rubbing, rutting against each other until Yancy comes with a sharp cry and Herc follows seconds later.

Actual sex with Herc is just as good as Yancy had been thinking it would be. Granted they had never even managed to finish a blowjob before they got married.

There’s a lot of touching, Yancy can’t help but run his hands through his husband’s hair, drag his nails down Herc’s back. Herc has been working him open for what feels like hours now. Four fingers buried deep inside Yancy and pressing on his prostate in little pulses. Yancy is shaking and clinging, biting into his own bicep trying to muffle his cries with Chuck being just next door to their room.

By the time Herc finally exchanges his fingers for his cock, Yancy is so high on endorphins that he can’t breath right and everything’s shining. When his orgasm hits, it’s like an explosion. Herc fucks him through it, seeking his own pleasure like a machine until Yancy’s whole body is alight with shocks, over sensitive. When Herc finally comes he buries his shouts, and his teeth, in Yancy’s shoulder.

***

Lucky 7 has been grounded for over two weeks. Yancy finds this out at breakfast two days after the wedding when he inadvertently starts to rise from the mess hall table as the Kaiju alarm starts blaring and then sits back down with a grimace and sees that Herc has done the same thing. Two tables over Echo Saber’s pilots are leaving to suit up.

“Takes a while to get used to,” Herc mutters and attacks his potatoes with his fork a little more forcefully than the already mashed vegetables deserved.

There are so many things to think about. Where Scott Hansen is for example, and who will be suiting up with Herc in the new Mark V. Striker Eureka is a beauty and Yancy’s brain itches to be hooked up to her neural interface. He doesn’t ask any of it.

Herc eats his mashed potatoes as angrily as possible as Vulcan Specter and Echo Saber are deployed.

***

_**Sydney, Australia - February 29, 2020** _

_Herc has been increasingly uncomfortable with the direction Scott's side of the drift has been going lately. Today, suited up and waiting for confirmation of where the Kaiju, codenamed Knifehead, was going to make for land, he'd caught a flicker fast image of a boy Chuck's age tied to a chair, bleeding from cuts and gagging on Scott's cock. He couldn't tell from it if the image was fantasy or not._

_Herc loses it when the drift slams him with images of the same boy, a real boy, in Taiwan and his scars. Images of the girl in Oz, 15 if she's a day and six months pregnant wearing fresh scabs on her arms and legs, rope burn on her wrists and ankles. Paternity blood test results confirmed Scott’s twisted brain informs him, her lifeless body on the side of a road and an unhappy pimp screaming obscenities at Scott’s departing back, the girls blood on the pimp’s hands. Then a ridiculously fast flash of Chuck tied to a bed.  
Lucky Seven grinds to a halt on the Miracle Mile. Loccent is blaring at them but they’re both disengaged from their harnesses and if Scott thought Herc wouldn’t hit him because they are in a Jaeger, he’s extremely wrong._

_“I never touched Chuck!” Scott gasps but that doesn’t change things, Herc isn’t going to let this go, not ever._

***

Chuck graduated from the academy early, it’s something that Yancy is positive that Herc didn’t even know about. In fact, the only reason that Yancy finds out is because he sits down one day to check his emails and finds one forwarded incorrectly to his inbox through Loccent protocols. It has transcripts, drift and battle sim results and Chuck’s Ranger certification in separate attachments. There are no marching orders though which makes Yancy’s mouth twist in irritation on Herc and Chuck’s behalf. Even if the little shit spends most of his time glaring in Yancy’s direction. 

Certifications are handed out when you leave the academy with your posting and your drift partner which means Herc was right and they’re dropping the ‘problem child’ in favour of more promising candidates.

The kid is good going by his kills rate, 98%. For kicks Yancy tracks Chuck down to the Kwoon but the kid is just running katas on a mat in the back while a few of the ‘dome’s cadets spar in the centre. All Yancy can tell is that he has a well disciplined form.

Herc looks a little torn up when Yancy tells him that Chuck has already graduated. Weeks ago, before the wedding, if the dates on the email are anything to go by. He has nowhere to go, no orders, no co-pilot. 

Tendo, is a wizard and still the closest thing to a brother that Yancy has while Raleigh is still unconscious in medical. He covers for them while they make the trip out to the city since Yancy isn’t cleared to leave the Shatterdome yet. There’s a bakery they get a cake from, and the nearest bar is happy to give the great Hercules Hansen a case of beer on the house. Herc makes one more stop that makes Yancy grin so wide he thinks his face might split in two.

Chuck’s face when he comes into their shared quarters is priceless. The little bulldog is all over Chuck in a matter of seconds. It’s not the celebration a 15 year old, the youngest Ranger ever, graduating from one of the toughest military programs there is deserves. But it’s a good one. 

_“One beer, Chuck, no more,” Herc tells him. Yancy happily slips the kid his own beer when Herc isn’t looking._

***

They’ve been in Sydney for almost five weeks when Yancy gets called down for a meeting in Medical. They’re talking about making an official change to Raleigh’s diagnoses and care. 

“I think it’s clear, Mr. Hansen, that your brother requires a more long term solution. It’s our opinion that he isn’t likely to wake up and we would like to get started on the approval process to have him transferred to a long term care facility. There hasn’t been any improvement in his condition since the incident.” 

It’s clear the doctors don’t think that there ever will be an improvement, they’ve already given up on Raleigh. They still don’t know why he’s hasn’t woken up and they keep throwing words around like ‘permanent brain damage’.

“It’s a hard thing to explain, Mr. Hansen,” Yancy hates being Mr. Hansen, Mr. Hansen gets talked down to like he’s the fucking dirt under people’s shoes or like he’s a thing to be pitied and in some cases he’s talked to like some sort of insect being examined. Mr. Hansen is a useless body in a military industrial complex that has already deemed him unfit for service. “There’s no real reason to say that your brother shouldn’t have woken up yet. Sometimes, the body does what it wants, sometimes people have routine surgeries and they don’t wake up from the anesthesia. This, we think, is a similar situation.” Yancy tries to keep calm and it’s Herc who rests his hand on Yancy’s shoulder and tells the doctors that under no circumstance is Raleigh Becket to be removed from the Shatterdome, no changes are to be recorded on his files. Yancy’s hands clench and shake with rage.

They head their separate ways after the meeting with medical. Herc to Loccent for his shift as Pentecost’s second in command and Yancy to Raleigh’s bedside. He wants to tell his brother about the shitty day they’re both having. He wants Raleigh to wake up and piss him off, tease him about having married Herc Hansen like the heroine in a shitty romance novel. He would find terrible photoshopped book covers in the strangest places with his head on some chesty blonde woman. 

He pushes the door open and is surprised when he sees Chuck sitting there with his feet up on the end of the Raleigh’s bed, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban open in his lap. Yancy’s first instinct is to yell at Chuck to get his feet off the fucking bed, have some fucking respect, when he registers that Chuck is reading to Raleigh, softly but out loud and then the Marshall’s daughter, Mako is curling her hand around Yancy’s and tugging him away.

“He is sad about what happened to Gipsy,” Mako’s English is improving vastly but still stilted and rough in places. “Gipsy was his favourite Jaeger. He always liked Raleigh.” Yancy blinks at her and then Chuck is dropping the book on the floor and is pushing past them snapping at Mako as he storms out.

“Fuck off, Mori, he didn’t need to know any of that.”

“Wait, Chuck, it’s okay,” Yancy tries to catch the kid’s arm, doesn’t know what he’s going to say to calm him down because Chuck is already pissed off at him almost all the time for every little thing, Chuck shrugs him off and glares poisonously at him. 

“You can fuck right off too, mate, you think you can waltz in here and marry my dad and that makes you family. You don’t know shit.” The silence in medical is startling in the wake of Chuck’s angry retreat. Yancy feels like he might have stepped into a shit pile bigger than the ones Max leaves in their quarters. Mako stands quietly beside him, her mouth opened in surprise. Yancy shakes his head. He picks up the book Chuck had dumped on the floor and sits down in the chair by Raleigh’s head. 

“Been a rough day around here, bro,” he says. Raleigh, as usual, has no comment.

***

“You wanna tell me why Chuck is giving you the cold shoulder?” Yancy looks up at Herc and sighs. He could lie but he won’t.

“He was reading to Raleigh when I went in to visit. I didn’t say anything. Miss Mori though, she told me about Chuck being a Gipsy fan, and Chuck overheard and got pissed. Said some things that basically amount to ‘you’re not my dad, fuck off’.” Herc rubs a hand over his eyes.

“Right, I’m sorry, I really…” his husband says, Yancy holds a hand up to stop him. 

“Don’t, he’s a teenager and they’re allowed to be shitty. He’s been having a hard time and you don’t need to coddle either of us.” He’s been sitting in the middle of the couch they have in the living room area of their quarters and now he slides over and pats the cushion beside him. Herc settles down beside him, tipping his head back. Yancy winces when Herc’s neck cracks. Gross.

“He’ll settle down soon, I’m sure.” It’s a weak endorsement coming from a man who knows his own son well enough to know that it won’t. Yancy practically raised his brother, he knows what the rest of these teenage years will bring.

“You going to tell me what’s going on? You’ve been getting more and more tense since I got here.” Since they got married but Yancy doesn’t say that out loud. There’s a pretty insecure part of him that doesn’t want to hear the answer in case the tension and stress Herc has been under is about him.

“Just getting frustrating, I hate being benched,” and that is something Yancy can relate to easily but it also opens up the conversation to questions that have been burning in the back of Yancy’s mind.

“Why are you benched? You were supposed to get Striker Eureka, I’ve seen her, and she’s ready to go.”

“You don’t have clearance for the Jaeger Bay,” Herc reminds him but it’s not a chiding remark. Yancy can get anywhere, security clearances are for pussies. He pushes on like Herc hasn’t interrupted.

“I’ve seen her, and she’s ready so why aren’t you and Scott piloting her? And where is Scott anyway? I haven’t seen him at all since we got here and you would think...” Herc looks haunted, dark shadows over his eyes making him look worn out to his very soul. 

“Leave it,” Herc orders, he moves to get up but Yancy clamps down on his hand, traps it against the table and his husband sighs heavily and sits back down. He tells Yancy about the fight he and his brother had in the conn-pod of Lucky Seven and about the terrible things that Scott had failed to hide in the drift. In the end, Yancy wishes he hadn’t asked, but for his troubles Herc looks loads better after the confession.

“He’s sitting in a cell somewhere in the mid-lands,” Herc says. “I don’t know where because they’re worried I’d go to him. And I don’t know when the trial will be held. They’re still working out how legal it is that I pulled the evidence out of his brain, if he can go to trial based on information from the drift and on the word of a an ‘unreliable’ underaged kid.”

“That’s pretty intense,” he has no other words to offer, nothing about the situation is going to be okay. “So you’re waiting until they start scheduling pairing trials?”

“Yeah, but they’ve been too busy with a million other things, what with the personnel transfers from the icebox shutdown.” There’s a bit of guilt there on Yancy’s part and he can hear the smallest bit of blame in Herc’s tone. Yancy can’t blame him though, everything’s been fucked up since Knifehead. Yancy stands up and offers Herc a hand. 

“I could use a good workout, you up for a spar?” The grin he gets in return is almost shark like and Yancy feels arousal coil low in his belly in reaction.

He’s not hopelessly outclassed by Herc, Yancy has that going for him, he had thought for sure that he would get beaten into the mats. They’re pretty evenly matched as it happens. Yancy stays a little more towards proper form and Herc has more of a back alley brawler style but they blend easily enough. They’re sweating and out of breath after ten minutes, and they’ve gathered a bit of an audience which happens to include Chuck who looks absolutely livid as they wind down and stretch out. Any lassitude that Yancy had achieved from their sparring session is gone when he watches Chuck spin around and storm out.

Two minutes later he learns, in passing, that Chuck and whoever he was supposed to be paired with were getting the new Jaeger, that the PPDC gave Chuck’s Jaeger to his dad. Because of course this could get worse.

***

The talking heads in the UN and the PPDC Oversight Committee are moving more and more money out of the Shatterdomes and into the Costal Wall. Word comes down the pipeline that Lima, Panama and Vladivostok are closing down and their jaeger staff and the pilots are being distributed to Hong Kong and Los Angeles but mostly being let go. Thousands of people are losing their jobs and their homes because Shatterdome policy is to keep all employees on base in the barracks and the family housing. There’s a lot of dissension in the ranks and more than a few non-essential personnel at the Sydney Shatterdome quit their jobs and move more inland or to the coastal wall project branching off the wall that surrounds the irradiated portion of the city to find work before what they see as the inevitable shutdown happens.

Tensions are running high, tempers are flaring up everywhere and as the cherry on top of the shit sundae is the UN sending a delegation to Sydney for a ‘comprehensive report’.

“Can you just…” Yancy thinks it’s sweet the way Herc is trying not to insult him as he’s warning both him and Chuck about the impending UN visitors and he takes pity on his poor husband who has a clearly irritated teen waiting on him for a kwoon session.

“You want me to stay out of the way?” he asks and Herc rubs a hand across the back of his neck.

“I don’t really give a damn, but the Marshall made the request directly. I guess you have a bit of history with this Taylor bloke they’re sending out.” Yancy sees white and then breathes and counts to fifteen until the rage subsides. Both Chuck and Herc are looking at him a bit warily.

“Just a bit,” Yancy forces out. “It’s fine, I’ll stay in our quarters and keep out of the way.” Herc smiles gratefully and his hand is warm where he reaches out to cup Yancy’s cheek. Yancy leans into the touch for a moment before Chuck huffs annoyed from the door.

“Committee will be here tomorrow, 08:00, I’m sorry about this,” Herc kisses the corner of Yancy’s mouth before following Chuck out the door. Yancy feels a little jump in his heart and he swallows hard.

In bed that night, with Herc’s hands on his thighs and Herc’s mouth wrapped around his cock Yancy shakes and claws at the bed and bites back the words trying to escape because he’s not sure he means them just yet.

***

Raleigh’s brainwave patterns are starting to show improvements. The doctors aren’t sure why. Sitting beside his brother and holding his hand Yancy doesn’t really see a difference but when they show him the scans they did this morning against the scans from last week it is showing a difference.

Yancy kisses Raleigh’s forehead and whispers “you better come back Rals, I’m going crazy without you” before he settles into his usual chair and picks up Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to read.

A chair screeches across the floor as Chuck pulls up a seat on the other side of Raleigh’s bed. Yancy stops reading to stare at him.

“You need something?” Chuck has been doing his best to avoid Yancy at every turn since the last time they were in Medical at the same time.

“Don’t want to fall behind,” Chuck says and gestures to the book. Yancy raises and eyebrow but he doesn’t say the things he wants to. Nothing good can come of fighting with the kid and Herc has been running around trying to desperately to keep the peace with almost everyone where Chuck is concerned. Yancy has been bringing apology coffee to Tendo on Herc’s behalf for the last week since boredom had gotten the best of the kid and he had gone into Loccent without authorization and re-wired a few consoles. The consoles worked fine, better than before but Tendo had still received an earful from Stacker about unauthorized access to his workstation.

“Right well,” Yancy clears his throat and goes back to the book. Probably this is a peace offering from a cranky little kid, but even if it isn’t Yancy’s well versed in sullen teenager courtesy of Raleigh and he’ll take what he can get.

***

He knows he’s not supposed to leave their quarters but Yancy is hungry and when he checks the time it’s 07:30. Yancy makes himself a cup of coffee, black, and then makes one for Tendo with all the sugar and powdered creamer that the man prefers. He grabs a few bagels and climbs the stairs to Loccent. No one lets him in, they never do, but he gamely follows one of the techies in and as usual no one checks his ID or notices he’s not supposed to be there. Which is of course right when he gets caught when the Marshall walks out of his office with a few PPDC representatives including Representative Taylor. Behind the crowd Herc scrubs a hand through his hair. Yancy winces and shrugs, it’s still only 07:37. 

“I didn’t think Loccent was accessible to the whole base, Marshall,” Taylor says in that same slimy voice he used to ruin Yancy’s life. 

“It is most definitely not,” Pentecost glares at him but Yancy is so used to seeing that over the last few years of piloting that it doesn’t even phase him. “Mr. Hansen, you are not cleared for entry into Loccent, what exactly do you think you are doing?”

Yancy forces a chagrined smile. Taylor looks confused at the name and mouths ‘Hansen’ at one of his aides who is frantically typing on his tablet.

“Herc skipped breakfast, just bringing him a coffee and a bagel.” Yancy explains. Herc slips through the small crowd to take Yancy’s cup, the fucker, and an everything bagel off the plate Yancy is holding. The aide tilts his tablet for Taylor to view and the man’s eyes narrow.

“Marshall, I think we’ll go back into your office now.” Taylor says. Pentecost nods and glares at Herc.

“Ranger Hansen, please escort Mr. Hansen back to quarters,” Pentecost orders and follows Taylor back into his office.

Herc puts everything, bagels and coffee cups down on Tendo’s station and takes Yancy by the elbow. Yancy waits until they’re back in their quarters before panicking.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh my god, what are we going to do?” Chuck, in their quarters more than not these days to steal his father’s clothes because he doesn’t want to buy any new ones, watches with interest.

“Calm down for one,” Herc orders but the damage is already done in Yancy’s eyes.

“Oh fuck, he’s gonna kick us out again. He’s going to kick you out I’ve killed all of our careers. Shit what’s he going to do to _Raleigh_?” The world is going fuzzy and white around the edges and Herc’s strong arms are around his waist.

“Breathe Yancy,” Herc says in his ear but there isn’t any air left for him. His heart feels like it’s going to burst out of his chest and he can’t speak but he can still hear Raleigh screaming his name over and over again while he lays crumpled against the HUD and Knifehead roars outside and then he’s getting slapped in the face hard. Yancy gulps air in at the shock of it.

“Fucking nut up you bludger!” Chuck snaps and Yancy focuses on the kid in front of him. “Quit flailing around like some fucking twit and breathe.” He takes one breath and another, unconsciously matching the rise and fall of his husband’s chest. Chuck keeps a hand on his stinging cheek and after a few minutes the abject panic that had squeezed his chest like a vise finally dissipates.

He finds himself being seated on the edge of their bed, Herc cradling his body between his strong legs. 

“Sorry, I’m so sorry,” Yancy gasps. Herc rubs his cheek on the top of Yancy’s head. Chuck pats him on the knee.

“You calm the fuckin’ Sheila down, I’m gonna go check on Raleigh,” Chuck tells his dad. He’s out the door before Yancy can even protest at being called a girl.

“You okay now?” Herc is warm and solid against Yancy and his voice rumbles against Yancy’s back.

“I’m sorry,” Yancy says again, he tips his head up when Herc’s fingers press on the underside of his jaw and is rewarded with a chaste press of lips against his own.

“It’s okay,” Herc says softly. “We’ll work through it.”

“What if he tries to-” Herc kisses him again and he keeps kissing him until there’s a sharp knock at the door and they break apart. Pentecost looks absolutely furious when he steps into their rooms.

“I’m sorry!” Yancy says immediately. “It wasn’t Herc’s fault I was there. I was bringing coffee and he didn’t even know I was coming. He warned me to stay in his quarters and I thought I had time before they got here.”

“Sit down Mr. Hansen,” Pentecost sounds harsh and he manages to make Mr. Hansen sound like Pond Scum. “I do not care about whose fault it is or what exactly you were doing. The fact remains that you were in an area you had no clearance for, in full view of the man who has been specifically targeting you since Knifehead attacked. More than one person has reported to me that you are consistently in secure areas you are restricted from and now Taylor knows as well.”

“So what’s going to happen?” Yancy asks. Pentecost points a finger in Yancy’s face.

“You will be under restricted movements. You are allowed from your quarters to the medical wing and the mess hall and you will be under armed escort. There will be two of the PPDC’s finest posted to you at all times. You will not be allowed anywhere else on this base other than the medical wing and the mess hall without your escort and under the supervision of Ranger Hansen or myself. Have I made myself clear?” 

Yancy’s mouth moves but no sound is coming out, the restriction are shocking. Herc steps up behind him and rescues him.

“Yes, Sir,” Herc says and it sounds like an insult.

***

Yancy gets escorted down to the Kaiju Science division by Herc and a pair of silent, well armed, strike troopers. Dr. Newton Geiszler is a bit of a crazy freak at first glance, something that Yancy hadn’t done during the wedding ceremony. Apparently he hadn’t been paying attention to much while getting married. He’s covered in tattoos that probably make going out in public these days difficult. His lab partner, Doctor Herman Gottlieb is quick to anger, shouting insults at the top of his lungs. Both of the men bicker like it’s their job.

“Enough!” Herc eventually has to shout to interrupt the argument the two scientists are determined to engage in when it’s clear they haven’t noticed their guests. How they even work in the same space without someone being murdered is a mystery to Yancy and he’s only been in their lab for five minutes. “You called us down for any reason in particular because I have better things to do than listen to you whine.” Gottlieb looks like he sucked on a lemon but Geiszler hurries out an explanation. The more he talks the more Yancy wants to just bury his face in his hands and never come out again.

“I don’t think Ranger Becket is in a coma! I - I’ve looked over the last few MRI’s and I’ve looked over some of his drift files. I think he’s still drifting.”

“Dr. Geiszler-” Yancy says.

“Oh no, please call me Newt!” the man interrupts, face smiling widely “it drives Herm here crazy when people don’t call us Doctor.” He holds his hand out and Yancy draws in a quick breath at the insulting sight of Yamarashi prominent on the man’s forearm. Doesn’t shake the man’s hand.

“Dr. Geiszler,” he repeats firmly “You’re going to stop hypothesizing anything to do with my brother.” the smile falls off the Doctor’s face. “I don’t want you anywhere near him and when I find out who got you access to his MRI’s I’m going to hurt them pretty severely.” He stomps out of the k-science lab. Behind him he can hear Herc ordering both scientists to stay out of the Becket’s business. He doesn’t see Chuck, lingering in the hallway off to the right of the lab door. His two armed guards follow him all the way to the junction where one path leads to the kwoon and the other back to his quarters. The guards won’t let him go to the kwoon so Yancy just stands there seething in the hallway until Herc catches up with him to be his escort.

Working out doesn’t relieve his tension or irritation at all. Just leaves him with bruised knuckles and a sore wrist from where he didn’t tape up well enough.

“They could be right you know,” Herc says later when they’re sitting in the mess hall. Chuck looks at them with interest.

“They’re talking about him like they have any right too. He looked at some fucking scans that he shouldn’t have been able to get a hold of and he thinks he knows everything. He’s got Yamarashi tattooed on his arm.” Both father and son wince at that. Yamarashi had almost taken Romeo Blue before Gispy Danger had cornered and killed it. A hard fight, it had been their first solo kill. 

“All the same, and terrible sense of propriety aside, drifting problems happened to some of the pre-mark I test pilots.”

“Even if they are, what are we going to do about it? Nothing good happened to those pilots,” Yancy stares miserably at the small pile of green bean abominations on his tray and wishes he could go back in time, do something different. Never let Raleigh talk him into enlisting in the first place. Raleigh’s wasting away in a god damned hospital bed because of him.

Chuck steals Yancy’s green beans and dumps a pile of potatoes down in their place. “Fucking eat something, the geniuses will sort it out or he’ll wake up on his own soon without the help of drifting.”

Yancy shovels a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth sullenly.

***

Their first fight is something talked about in hushed whispers throughout the shatterdome for weeks. Small things build and build until the damn holding them back bursts.

Yancy hates that Herc leaves wet towels on the floor and he shows it by throwing a wet towel at Herc’s head. Herc shouts that Yancy is just as bad and doesn’t put the dishes away when he’s done with them.

“It’s not fucking hard! The cupboard is right fucking there! You don’t have to leave it on the goddamned counter!”

Chuck bangs on the wall between their quarters and his and yells at everyone to shut the fuck up.

Herc leaves to cool down but locks Yancy in their rooms, the troopers at the door are completely wide eyed. Yancy discovers the locked door five minute later when he tries to go for a walk to the mess hall for coffee and when the guards outside won’t answer him, in deference to Herc, Yancy rips the door lock apart from inside and re-codes it so Herc can’t get back in. A fucking cakewalk compared to the shit he and Raleigh used to do to each other. When Herc discovers he can’t get back in he spends five minutes straight yelling at Yancy in the hallway and then a few minutes breathing through the anger, with his forehead pressed to the steel door while the troopers looking away awkwardly, before he calls Tendo to come help.

It’s their first fight and none of the things they yelled at each other actually mean anything to them at all, but the combined tensions of being benched (Herc) and confined to quarters (Yancy), being under constant scrutiny by the powers that be (Herc again) and under secure armed escort at all times (Yancy again) has had both men completely on edge.

Tendo demands they get their shit together and stop being immature assholes so he doesn’t have to play locksmith at 3 in the morning.

“Well, it’s not like you were sleeping, being on duty and all,” Yancy has to stifle a laugh when he hears Herc’s response.

On the plus side, the argument opens up a part of their relationship that has had them walking on eggshells around each other and the make up sex is actually so good Yancy considers locking Herc out of their room all over again if it’s always going to result in getting fucked forcefully against the wall of their quarters, his legs around Herc’s waist and his hands pinned over his head. Herc snarling animalistic in his ear to just fucking take it when all Yancy can do is clench himself harder on the other man’s cock because he can hardly move at all.

***

Against all odds the Marshall agrees with Dr. Geiszler’s opinion, although the man swears up and down (with his cuffs buttoned at the wrist) that he didn’t tell anyone after Herc and Yancy, and orders whatever tests may be necessary. Yancy sits in the chair beside Raleigh’s bed and watches the barrage of doctors and nurses with a blank stare. Sometimes Chuck, a little less angry these days, will come and sit with him. He smuggles Max in too and when the nurses aren’t looking Chuck lets Max curl up on the bed against Raleigh’s side. Maybe it’s his imagination, his memories of 10 year old Raleigh begging over and over again for a dog of his own, but Raleigh seems better when Max is there nudging into him.

Raleigh’s been in a coma now for long enough that there’s a physical therapist who comes in every day and works Raleigh’s muscles over and over to keep them from atrophying, special machine hook up to his legs and arms pulsing gentle electrical currents through the muscles. Chuck is helpful with the nurses in moving Raleigh over and helping with the massaging. Things Yancy never thought the kid would even think about.

***

The alarm starts blaring through the ‘dome and Yancy and Herc both stumble over each other trying to get out of bed. It’s 4 a.m. and Chuck bangs on their shared wall and shouts “Stay in bed you fuckers, you’re not driving”.

“I fucking hate that kid sometimes, he’s gotta stop banging on the walls.” Yancy mutters and rolls over, face planting into Herc’s armpit. Herc smoothes a hand down Yancy’s bare back and sighs.

“Yeah, I might let you kick his ass extra hard in the kwoon later.”

They get up anyway because the alarm has them too keyed up to do anything else. Dressed and with cups of hot coffee, from the small makeshift kitchenette Herc had arranged after Yancy's restrictions we're put in place, they make their way to Loccent. Herc drops a relatively chaste kiss on Yancy’s lips at the doors that has their current escorts, strike troopers who couldn’t be older than 20, blush beet red.

“Wait for me in the mess?” Herc asks softly. 

“Yeah, I’ll get you some eggs.” Yancy agrees. His escort follows him to the mess, empty except for the few crew stragglers and some of the night shift eating their dinners before going to bed. They stare at him. It grates on his nerves and he’s not getting used to it, everyone has been watching since he arrived in Sydney and they’re even more blatant about it since he acquired his new accessories.

Yancy is in the chow line chatting with one of the cooks when Herc bursts into the room at speed and shouting orders that have the dead tired crew scattered around the room on their feet and moving. Yancy feels a familiar urgency crawls through him as his husband approaches.

“Drop the tray, we gotta get to Striker,” Herc orders.

***  
He and Herc are pushed into drive suits. Yancy in his battered and hastily repaired armour with Gipsy’s logo and Herc in his own camo green Lucky Seven suit. Yancy frowns and tries to shake his shoulders to ease the tight feel. They repaired the suit but it doesn’t feel quite right.

The Kaiju, a Category 3 named after some sort of lizard, reminds Yancy of Knifehead. It’s bypassed both Vulcan Specter and Echo Saber and is making its way towards the Miracle Mile. Yancy catches Herc’s eye and he has to ask.

“You sure this is going to work?” Herc gives him a grim version of his usual smile and Yancy answers his own question. “I guess it’s going to have to,” he says. He takes the left side, normally it’s Raleigh on the left and Yancy on the right, to compensate for the scars that are still mostly fresh on his body from the beating Gipsy took from Knifehead. Herc takes the right side naturally and Yancy doesn’t have to ask to know that’s his usual position.

The crews connect the spine plates last and clear out and then Tendo is reading off the drop sequence as Striker’s conn pod is connected to the rest of the Jaeger. The relay gel drains out of his helmet faceplate. 

“Gentlemen, I don’t think I need to point out how much exactly how much is riding on your success do I?” Pentecost’s voice comes through the comm line. Yancy flips the comm switch.

“You mean the relative safety of the people living in the Kaiju’s path right?” he snarks back. Herc gives him a wide eyed look but the man is going to be in his head in a minute if everything goes well and Yancy isn’t going to be anything but himself going into battle even with the trepidation of doing this without Raleigh that nags him at the back of his mind.

“I’ll have none of your sass today Mr. Hansen,” Pentecost stresses his new name and Yancy bears his teeth in a silent snarl. Tendo interrupts gently.

“Beginning drift sequence, neural handshake -”

_Everything is glowing and gold, drifting with Raleigh has always been silence and blue and comfort but this is engulfing, all encompassing. Still comfort but also strong and warm._

_Charlie runs into the house shrieking with glee, he’s being chased by Herc, by Yancy, by Herc, under a table and then down a hallway. Angie laughs and scolds when they crash into the hallway in muddy boots._

_Blue washes through and mom is standing behind him at the counter teaching him how to roll sugar cookies. Scott’s are always shaped like stars and burn on the corners. This is Yancy’s but it’s Herc’s too, 20 years old and standing in a cramped kitchen in Darwin carefully shaping cookies to look like dicks, Scott manning the icing station, gonna get that Drongo -_

“Hey boys, looking good, drift is holding at 93 percent, how are we feeling?” Yancy personally feels like he’s been punched in the face but he’s never drifted with anyone other than Raleigh. On his right Herc feels and looks fine and also amused as he mouths ‘universally compatible’ at Yancy. Yancy narrows his eyes and purposely thinks ‘fucker you’re sleeping on the couch tonight’. He knows the sentiment went through the drift if only because Herc looks even more smug. But the man’s right, Yancy’s not going to let that happen. He’s basically his own worst enemy when it comes to withholding.

“Feeling fine, Tendo, we’re ready to deploy,” Herc answers. 

“Alright boys, she’s all dressed up, take her out dancing,” Tendo says. 

Striker gives a sickening lurch around them as the platform they’re on turns to face the open ocean. In sync they step out into the bay.

***

The Kaiju is massive, it screams and roars and stomps it's feet, displacing a massive amount of water at the sight of them. A barely there memory of 1998 Godzilla slides mutually between them.

Striker has all the bells and whistles, there’s a gun in every conceivable place and her fists look like knuckledusters. She moves and respond faster than Lucky, Gipsy, ever did. For all that the monster danced around Vulcan Specter and Echo Saber, it is still dumb and lumbering and easily dispatched. They hold the shore and beat on the Kaiju with everything they've got until they force it back past the Miracle Mile where the other two Australian Jaegers are waiting. From there it's a blood bath and Echo's pilots laughing in a creepy tandem when Striker deploys chest missiles. 

***

They hardly make it back to their quarters before they start ripping armour and circuitry suits away to get to bare flesh. Victory sex is amazingly mind blowing. 

Yancy comes screaming Herc's name and shaking apart on Herc's cock pressed down on the floor of their quarters. 

Herc comes with a shout that he buries in the flesh of Yancy's neck along with his teeth. 

Yancy is laying flat on his back enjoying the afterglow still on the floor and contemplating a shower and more sex and then sleep. Herc groans softly as he sits up and his back makes disgusting popping sounds. 

The beeping of the inter 'dome comm system beeps at them insistently until Herc pushes himself fully to his feet and activates it with a button press and a blunt and gruff "Hansen".

"We need Yancy down in medical right now," Tendo says. All the good feelings disappear in what feels like a flood of ice water down his spine.

***

The med bay is a frenzy of movement and someone is swearing really loudly. The scientists, Geiszler, is sitting on a chair out of the way staring off into the distance, butting his lips and nervously wringing his hands in between his knees when he spots them. His face goes faint and pale so fast his whole body sways with it. He says 'oh god' like he's going to throw up. 

"What the fuck did you do?" Yancy demands. He grabs Geizsler by his shirt and twists the fabric tight pulling the other man up into his toes. 

"Oh god, I'm sorry, I thought he was just asking questions because he was curious! I'm so, so sorry!" There's a bead of swear winding it's way down the side of Geizsler's face. 

Their interaction has gained some interest and there's a doctor striding towards them with purpose. There's a grim look about her face. 

She tells them that once the base was distracted with the kaiju alarms, Chuck had entered Raleigh's room. Yancy doesn't want to hear this and down by the crowd of doctors and nurses a persistent alarm starts screaming. 

***  
 _"Ya gotta come out, Raleigh everyone's worried." The boy is young, maybe 16, he's got worried eyes and his hair is shining like tarnished gold in the sun of the beach._

_"But it's so warm here. No one is waiting for me, I can stay here a little longer."_

_"Nah Raleigh, Yancy's waiting out there for you, bludger's been going on and on like some wailing Sheila."_

_"You're cute, what's your name kid?" Raleigh says and grabs the kid's hands to pull him down on to his towel. He smiles brightly. The sun is shining and the waves are crashing lightly into the shore. He knows the water is the perfect temperature and there's a gorgeous breeze. The only thing out of place is this kid._

_"Stop it!" the kid hisses. He smacks Raleigh hard on the face. Raleigh hisses and jerks away, catches the hand on its way down again. "Get your act together Ranger!"_

_The air gets heavy, the wind gust hard enough to knock them over and a large shadow blocks out the sun. Raleigh tilts his head to look up, up, up and Knifehead screams._

***

"You just let him wheel in the equipment in without asking what he was doing?" Herc slams his hands down on the desk between the three Shatterdome doctors and them. Yancy is silent in the face of the doctor's fear, honestly the only thing keeping him from lunging over the desk and strangling Geizler, huddled on a chair in the furthest corner in the room, is the fact that Tendo has a firm grip on Yancy's shoulder and Pentecost is looming in the doorway a stern authority figure. 

"We didn't _just_ let him do anything! We found them when we were doing rounds - they were already linked up." The doctor, a stern looking woman, turns her attention, and accusations, on to Geizler. "The more important question is how the kid managed to set the machinery up on his own!" Geizler looks completely bewildered. 

"Wait what? Me? How is this remotely my fault? Just because - because he stole things from my lab. That doesn't make me responsible for, for this." 

"Someone better explain to me what exactly is going on!" Herc bellows. 

"Let's calm down," Pentecost finally intercedes. 

"No, I know exactly what happened here," Yancy says. "Chuck asked Geizler what his idea was after listening to me be angry about this stupid fucking drift plan. Geizler spouted off because he was happy to have someone interested, probably showed him all the equipment. Chuck is an enterprising little shit who probably grabbed everything out of the lab the second the Kaiji alarm went off this morning and jury rigged the shit out of it and hooked himself up to Raleigh without knowing if they were even drift compatible which is a low chance anyway since he hasn't been able to drift with anyone _and_ Raleigh's brain isn't working right anymore and now we're here with two people stuck in a drift and no idea what to do about it!" Yancy's words end on a shout when they started out quiet. Tendo clenches his hand tightly on Yancy's shoulder. Keeping him grounded while the doctors look amongst themselves and anywhere but the scared angry men across from them. 

*** 

_"Oh shit!" the kid breathes. "You're fucking kidding me mate." The world around them is washed out white like a bad drift and Raleigh wants to crawl into a dark deep corner and get away._

_"Where's Yancy?" he has to shout to be heard over the howling wind and the raging alien monster. "Yancy!"_

_"We are stuck in a drift you fucking psycho! You need to wake up!"_

_"Yancy!" The beach is white and cold and everything hurts. There's a pain in his arm and he's having a hard time breathing. "Yancy!"_

_"Raleigh, wake up!"_

_***_

"Yancy!" The scream breaks through the din of angry voices in the room and Yancy pushes past everyone. "Yancy!" Weaker but still there. He stumbles into the side of Raleigh's bed. Raleigh thrashing around violently in the bed and connected to the improvised drift simulator and in turn to Chuck who had started this adventure slumped back in a chair and is now in his own bed pressed as close to Raleigh's as can be. 

"I'm here Rals! I'm right here!" Yancy says. He takes his brothers hand and holds it. He's still holding it when Raleigh's eyes pop open and he gasps desperately for a breath that Chuck chokes on in the other bed. Coughing and rolling over, knocking the connectors off his head. They clatter loudly on the floor where they land. 

Raleigh is clinging to Yancy's hand so tightly that Yancy is starting to lose feeling in his fingers. 

"Hey, brother," Yancy smiles. He stands his ground as doctors and nurses flood around the beds. 

_/The End_


End file.
